Brendan Powicki is one of the best Little League baseball players in Lynn.
A member of the City Series champion Wyoma Rangers, Brendan pitched a combined no-hitter in the penultimate game, nearly led the Wyoma All-Stars to the District 16 title, and received the sportsmanship award at the citywide Home Run Derby contest.
At 5-feet-9 and growing fast, he was a defensive star and seventh grade starter for his Our Lady of Assumption School basketball team that won the league championship this season. He’s played quarterback for East Lynn Pop Warner although his football career is on hold right now.
But when it comes to Little League bragging rights in the family, even someone as accomplished as Brendan might have to give the nod to his father, Mark, who has helped coach the Wyoma Rangers the past few seasons.
Mark Powicki was a player in the Swampscott Little League when that town’s program set the standard for All-Star teams in Massachusetts.
Powicki was the starting catcher and a captain for the 1981 Swampscott Little League All-Star team that won the Massachusetts state title. Swampscott had beaten Wyoma (Al DiVirgilio, Wyoma coach Rich Germano, former BC football player Billy Norcross, and former Lynn Tech football star Ricky Drislane, played on that Wyoma team) in the District 16 finals. The Big Blue traveled to Newburgh, New York, for the Northeast Regional Tournament where their dream of a trip to the World Series was ended by the Delaware state champion in the semifinals. And back then it was single-elimination at all levels beyond the district tournament.
At 12 years old and standing 5-feet-10, Mark Powicki was a star among stars, hitting a dozen home runs for that Swampscott team that was coached by Dick O’Neil and the late Al Duratti, who passed away recently.
“Al was one of the best coaches and a real student of the game,” recalled Powicki. “I remember him best for his temperament. He was always calm, cool, and collected. He could gain the confidence of his players very easily. Everything he said, you knew he was talking from his heart, and he made you feel like you could do anything.”
Mark Powicki hung up his cleats after Little League but he played varsity hockey at Swampscott High and one season of football on a Big Blue team led by legendary coach Stan Bondelevitch.
The 6-feet-5-inch Powicki went on to attend The Gunnery prep school in Connecticut where he and classmate Al DiVirgilio won a New England prep school hockey championship. Powicki earned a football scholarship from the University of New Hampshire football team where he won a Yankee Conference championship. Powicki was invited to tryout for the National Football League but chose to return to school and pursue a doctorate in physical therapy.
Powicki earned the advanced degree and now owns and operates a physical therapy practice and gym that does sports performance for athletes as well.
The son of former Lynn residents Ed and Kate Powicki, Mark Powicki has been helping out his son Brendan’s Wyoma Little League career since he started playing T-Ball.
As a physical therapist, the 42-year-old Powicki works closely with Brendan on his physical training and athletic techniques. “I just want to keep him healthy and develop his athleticism – that’s always been my goal,” said Powicki. “I hope he’s ten times the athlete I ever was because that’s what being a parent is all about.”
Mark Powicki said Brendan has benefited by having excellent support system that includes his mother, Melissa Bagley, stepfather Sean Bagley, grandparents, and an aunt, Amy Bowden, who lives in Lynn. Powicki said his wife, Pam Powell, has also been supportive of her son.
“My son has actually helped me become a better man because I try to lead by example and be a role model for him, said Powicki. “When we talk about the people who have had a role in Brendan’s development not only as an athlete but as a person, it’s been a group effort. ”